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A U.S. woman says her husband was the 59-year-old Washington state hunter who was shot and killed Monday during a bear hunt in northern B.C.

Shirley Cooper told the Longview Daily News that her husband, Jeff Cooper, had been hunting a grizzly bear with guides at the time of his death.

The man’s family told the newspaper he wounded a grizzly Sunday night and tracked the bear down the next morning with two guides.

The bear charged the group and everyone fired. A bullet struck and killed Cooper.

RCMP say homicide hasn’t been ruled out yet in the man’s death.

On Thursday, RCMP said that while they hope the shooting death turns out to be nothing more than a terrible accident, they aren’t confirming anything.

“We’ve interviewed everybody and they’re co-operating with the investigation,” Corp. Dave Tyreman, district advisory NCO for North District RCMP, said Thursday. “Everybody’s best outcome would be for this to be a tragic accident. But neither one (homicide or accident) has been ruled out. We have to collect all the evidence, interview everyone, and let the evidence speak for itself.”

The shooting death in the Tahtsa Reach Forest Service area, 112 kilometres south of Houston, is being investigated by the North District Major Crime Unit, the North District Forensic Identification Unit, the B.C. Conservation Service and the B.C. Coroners Service.

Police said the man’s name has not yet been officially released.

Scott Ellis, executive director of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., said Thursday he doesn’t know any details of the shooting.

“We don’t know for certain whether who shot who, whether it was an assistant guide, a guide outfitter or somebody else who shot this individual.

“We know he was up there bear hunting. And we’ve been told by police that they went in to retrieve a bear they had shot. And we know that something went terribly wrong. Unfortunately, any more information than that from the police is hard to get.”

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